Three Ways to Re-engage Inactive Email Subscribers

Regardless of if you’ve got a list of email subscribers in the hundreds or thousands, there are always some users who are inactive. While you can always gain new followers through better forms, email automation, and great content, how do you hold onto those customers? In email marketing, if content is king, then engagement is queen.

Why bother with re-engagement emails? Re-engaging inactive customers is a good thing regardless of your list growth trend because it improves both quality and deliverability as ISPs track engagement. Today we look at three ways you can proactively use the tools of your email service provider to keep your subscribers coming back for more.

1. Create a Re-engagement Funnel

These funnels are all about reaching out to inactive subscribers and bring them back. Create and use powerful email funnels to be sent to users who haven’t opened or clicked through on your email marketing recently. Here are some great setups for re-engagement:

Ask Them About Their Email Preferences: Check in and ask them about their email preferences. Would they like to see fewer emails? Emails only about certain things? Find out and use the information to put them in better audience segments.

Ask About Additional Data for Deals: Much like their email preferences, ask them for more information to help tailor emails or get them cool deals (see below). As an example, ask for their birthday for a customized birthday email with a deal.

Offer Them an Opt Out: You don’t want your customers annoyed to get your emails. While every email has a unsubscribe feature, put it clearly in the copy of this email. Make sure to phrase it along the lines of “we hate to see you go, but don’t want to bother you” to avoid unnecessary unsubscribes which could hurt your standing with your ESP (Email Service Provider).

Want to learn more about email funnels? Check out a handy list of FeedBlitz funnel recipes here. Check out our tutorial for creating re-engagement emails in FeedBlitz here.

2. Show That You’re Interested in Their Feedback

Try engaging your users with a survey, poll, or other forms of questions and requests for feedback. Simple requests for more information or questionnaires can make your customers feel involved in your company. This can be anything from feedback on their purchases from you to thoughts about a new design or product roll out. You might be surprised how much valuing your clients’ feedback can get them to open up, and it provides you with valuable data for your business.

3. Sweeten the Deal with an Offer

Another way to bring back inactive subscribers is with some sort of offer. Everyone likes a great deal delivered directly to their inbox. This works great with both active and inactive subscribers, but its usefulness here shouldn’t be understated.

Tell Them About a Sale: Running a sale or deal on your products or services? Send it out as part of an email.

Give Them a Promo Code: By providing a unique and limited-time promo code to your users, you can provide both a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

Offer Them Something New: Rolling out a new service or product, or adding a new feature or design to an existing one (include your website)?

These emails don’t even have to be exclusive to re-engagement campaigns. You can send out sales emails to all your subscribers but have two different emails, one for active users and a second with the same deal, but with the re-engagement funnel baked in. Think about sending follow-up emails about expiring sales or promo codes to give them a second chance.

Bonus Way: General Tips to Improve Your Email Engagement

The above three ways are designed specifically to create email marketing for bringing back inactive clients, but there are also proactive measures you can take to drive customer engagement. A few suggestions below:

Calls to Action: Revitalize your calls to action with new text, images, and colors. Also think about providing one form of contact (email, phone, form) over multiple options to reduce the clutter.

Automate Email Follow-ups: Send follow-up emails to people who didn’t open the initial send, and a separate one to people who did open but didn’t engage (click) on anything.

Track Your Metrics: After doing all of this, it’s important to keep track of what is working. Monitor your open rates, click through rates, and CTOR (Click To Open Rates) on an email and monthly basis.

Find and Track Inactive Subscribers: Check out our posts on performing some spring cleaning by performing an email audit to find inactive subscribers.